Brexit news: No 10 rejects EU offer to ‘intensify’ talks and demands ‘change of approach’ from Brussels

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Michael Gove welcomes Michel Barnier's offer to 'intensify' talks

Downing Street has rejected an offer from the EU to “intensify” Brexit negotiations – just minutes after Michael Gove welcomed it as a “constructive” move.

The offer from Michel Barnier saw Mr Gove thinking on his feet in the Commons after the Cabinet Office minister had told  colleagues the EU was refusing to negotiate on a string of key points. 

Despite Mr Gove’s positive reaction, however, No 10 later insisted there was still no basis to resume talks.

Mr Gove also clashed with former prime minister Theresa May, who said the UK’s security will be damaged if police lose access to key databases and partnerships in the event of no deal.

The minister responded by claiming that the UK will be able to cooperate more effectively while outside the EU - before reminding Ms May of her own statement that “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

Elsewhere, business secretary Alok Sharma admitted that when Boris Johnson talks about an “Australia-style” deal with the EU, he effectively means a no-deal Brexit. Questioned about the phrase, Mr Sharma said: “Well … it’s a question semantics at the end of the day, sure.”

Semantics or not, the prospect of no deal prompted Britain’s pharmaceutical industry appealed to Mr Johnson to strike a “side-deal” with Brussels to avoid shortages of medicines if the UK crashes out. 

Meanwhile ministers are said to be “carefully considering next steps” after the government failed to reach agreement with local leaders in Greater Manchester over a move to Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions.

Key Points

• Gove welcomes EU offer to ‘intensify’ talks after Barnier wrongfoots him with tweet
• EU must be ready to discuss ‘detailed legal treaty’, says No 10
• Johnson ‘is in two minds on whether he wants a deal’
• Michel Barnier ‘frustrated with EU states on fishing rights’
• Australia-style Brexit effectively no-deal, admits minister
• Drugs industry urges No 10 to get ‘side deal’ to avoid shortages

[19 October 2020 10:49 · Adam Forrest]

Barnier ‘frustrated’ with EU states on fishing, claims BBC editor

The BBC’s Europe editor Katy Adler has offered her thoughts on the current Brexit impasse. She argues it was “short-sighted of EU leaders to put onus of compromising solely on the UK in their summit conclusions last week”.

Adler claims it has “been a frustration” for Michel Barnier that EU coastal nations have not yet let him start talking about inevitable compromises on fishing quotas.

“EU coastal states have been demanding that the UK move more on competition regulations BEFORE they openly talk fish concessions,” she tweeted in a lengthy thread. “Might they now move earlier with window closing on possibility of a deal and cost of no deal being far bigger than cost of smaller fish quotas?”

[19 October 2020 11:13 · Adam Forrest]

Tony Blair spoke to Matt Hancock about quarantine ‘exemption’

If you missed one of the big Sunday stories, former Labour PM Tony Blair has denied ditching coronavirus rules upon returning from a trip to the US last month. He was spotted out and about in London’s Mayfair before the end of the usual 14-day quarantine.

Blair’s team claim he was advised to follow rules regarding attendance to diplomatic conference (he went to an event at the White House). But according to The Telegraph he asked for special dispensation to attend a conference as a diplomat but did not receive the exemption

Could Matt Hancock now get drawn into the row? The same newspaper is reporting that the health secretary reportedly spoke to Blair after he asked for guidance, and advised him to apply to the Foreign Office for the exemption. Maybe the Foreign Office can now clear this one up?

[19 October 2020 11:32 · Adam Forrest]

Johnson ‘is in two minds whether he really wants a deal’

ITV’s Robert Peston – who only last week said the odds of a trade deal with the EU were ‘quite close to 100 per cent’ – now sounds pretty gloomy on the chances of an agreement.

In his latest piece for The Spectator, the TV host explains his understanding of both sides’ positions on state aid has changed. Boris Johnson, apparently counselled by Dominic Cummings on the issue, believes the EU’s demand for some kind of enforcement mechanism is “unacceptable”.

Worse still for all of us hoping for a deal, Johnson apparently doesn’t even know if he wants one. One of his close colleagues told Peston: “The PM is in two minds constantly over this. He doesn’t know whether he really wants one [a deal] so no one else [around him] does.”

God help us.

Boris Johnson said to be unsure whether he wants a deal (PA)

[19 October 2020 11:42 · Adam Forrest]

Labour MP in hospital with pneumonia after contracting Covid

Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East, has gone into hospital two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus.

She announced the news in a message on her Facebook page: “I’m being very well looked after and have nothing but praise and admiration for the wonderful staff at the hospital.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer said: My thoughts are with my friend Yasmin Qureshi who has been admitted to hospital after being diagnosed with Covid-19. My thanks go to the staff caring for Yasmin at the Royal Bolton Hospital, along with NHS staff across the country.”

[19 October 2020 11:57 · Adam Forrest]

EU ‘expects deadlock to last days’ in cooling off period

As lunchtime approaches, a reminder of where we stand on all things Brexit. Chief negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost are set for a crucial phone call this afternoon. As if things weren’t tense enough, Maros Sefcovic will be leading a European Commission press conference later, after a UK-EU Joint Committee meeting on the withdrawal agreement in London

No 10 are said to want Barnier to indicate that the EU is willing to work “intensively” to get a deal done. Downing Street is also said to wants some indication from Barnier that the EU will be willing to compromise, effectively putting the onus on France to ease its hardball stance on fishing rights. “If they want to do a deal, we can do a deal,” one senior UK government official has told Politico.

The Times reports that Brussels expects a “time out” of no more than a week to allow everyone to cool off from the fireworks of the recent EU Council summit.  “A circuit breaker on Brexit may have a positive effect,” said one diplomatic source.

Meanwhile, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has called on No 10 to strike a swift “side-deal” with Brussels to avoid delays and shortages of medicines if he crashes the UK out of the EU.

Michel Barnier will speak to David Frost today (Reuters)

[19 October 2020 12:12 · Adam Forrest]

BA doesn’t ‘believe’ in government’s 7-day quarantine plan

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has told an airline industry conference that government is working hard on a “test and release regime” – which will still involve a quarantine period of at least seven days.

He said: “My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed a regime, based on a single test provided by the private sector and at the cost to the passenger, after a period of self-isolation ... The next step is to develop how this approach can be implemented.”

But the new boss of British Airways, Sean Doyle, has demanded that the self-isolation requirement for international arrivals is replaced by Covid-19 tests before departure. Doyle dismissed Shapps’ plan – saying: “We do not believe quarantine is the solution.”

[19 October 2020 12:39 · Conrad Duncan]

BREAKING: Wales to go into 'fire-break’ lockdown for 17 days

In a move which is likely to increase pressure on Boris Johnson to impose a “circuit breaker” lockdown in England, the Welsh government has said it will enter a new lockdown for 17 days.

Mark Drakeford, Wales’ first minister, said the decision to close all but essential retail outlets from Friday was designed to avoid a longer lockdown at a later date.

Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, has the full story below:

[19 October 2020 12:51 · Adam Forrest]

New Board of Trade meets for first time at ‘critical moment’

The new Board of Trade, including controversial former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, is set to meet for the first time today to examine ways of boosting links with the Commonwealth post-Brexit.

The new-look panel of politicians, economists and industry figures is meeting on Monday at a “critical moment” for the UK, according to international trade secretary Liz Truss.

The board will discuss the principles underpinning its work – which ironically includes a commitment to the rule of law at a time when the government has threatened to breach international law in Brexit negotiations with the EU.

[19 October 2020 13:09 · Conrad Duncan]

It looks like the PM is facing trouble with keeping the UK together beyond Scotland…

[19 October 2020 13:17 · Adam Forrest]

Opinion: ‘PM has taken a political hit over the Manchester stand-off’

Boris Johnson is again at risk of looking like a “flip-flopper” over coronavirus restrictions in the north of England after a bruising war of words with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in recent days, according to our columnist Andrew Grice.

He writes: “Boris Johnson has warned he will impose Tier 3 status on Greater Manchester on public health grounds if necessary. But Burnham’s trump card is that he knows Johnson does not want to do this, as it would fuel the toxic narrative of a London-centric government enforcing its will on the north.”

You can find his full piece below: